Victor Oladipo's dramatic winner gives Pacers statement win over Celtics

INDIANAPOLIS — Victor Oladipo didn't fib when he insisted that if his Indiana Pacers were down by two to end a game that he wouldn't go for the tie. He'd pull up for 3.

"I push the envelope. I play nothing safe now. I'm the guy if we’re down two, I'm pulling up for 3," he told the Indianapolis Star during a workout in Miami over the summer.

Saturday, in the second game of a back-to-back against the projected best team in the Eastern Conference, the Boston Celtics experienced that truth first-hand. Oladipo trotted down the floor and drilled the long ball over Al Horford with 4.7 seconds left of what became a 102-101 victory at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.

Oladipo (24 points, 12 rebounds, three steals) then made a steal of the inbound pass from Gordon Hayward to seal it.

"I’m going for the win," said Oladipo, who scored 10 of his game-high 24 in the fourth quarter. "Not because I’m saying I have to every time, but you’ve got to give yourself the confidence to do it and believe that you can do it. I’m not going to say every time we’re down two in a home game that I’m going to shoot a 3, but I’m just going to make the play that’s there."

Said center Myles Turner: "We almost expect him to take that shot. We expect him to live up to those big moments. I have all the confidence in the world in him. He never ceases to amaze me."

Wins against the likes of the Cleveland Cavaliers, Chicago Bulls and New York Knicks — and even the San Antonio Spurs, who are no longer the Spurs of old — collectively won't carry the weight of this triumph. It's just one game, but it's more impressive a night after the Pacers had to erase an 18-point deficit to win in Chicago.

Their deficit this time was 13.

"We're not going to make excuses for the schedule," coach Nate McMillan said. "This was a tough back-to-back and all I asked our guys to do was play like you believe you can win this game. And they did."

How the Pacers will be viewed in the broader conversation about the top four teams in the East, one that already includes the Celtics, Toronto Raptors, Milwaukee Bucks and Philadelphia 76ers, likely changes, at least for the short-term.

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They belong, with the 18-point loss to the Bucks in the second game of the season a distant memory.

"It's great for our confidence. We knew Boston was a good team," Turner said. "You've got to step into Bankers Life and this is a tough place to play. We're trying to establish that early."

Consecutive 3s in the waning minutes by Kyrie Irving (18 points), who'd been invisible for most of four quarters, broke open a score tied at 95. Oladipo responded with a clutch jumper and then made a pair of foul shots.

Cory Joseph defended Irving on a drive, using a strong contest to force a miss and set up the final sequence with the Pacers still trailing 101-99 with 9.6 seconds left. Oladipo grabbed the rebound and went at Horford, who was playing him more for the drive than the pull-up.

True to the footwork that Oladipo showed all summer, the ability to stop on a dime and decelerate while staying on balance, the 3 was true, too.

Earlier in the week when Tim Hardaway appeared to lift the Knicks as they led by seven points late, Oladipo one-upped him with two long balls and a steal to bring his team back.

Oladipo only made 4-of-13 3s on Saturday. As a team, the Pacers converted just 11 — a 24-point deficit compared with the 19 3s made by the Celtics. 

The Pacers matched the Celtics for every possession. Tyreke Evans (17 points, three assists), Bojan Bogdanovic (16 points, three steals), Domantas Sabonis (12 points, nine rebounds, five assists) and Turner (12 points, six rebounds) did their part to support Oladipo.

The Pacers trailed early as they had trouble getting quality looks in the half court but erased a 13-point deficit to tie the score at 45 by turning over the Celtics six times for 12 points in the second quarter. 

Marcus Morris (23 points) led Boston as Irving and Gordon Hayward (four points) were held in check. Jayson Tatum and Horford (14 points) rounded out an effort in which Boston launched 46 3s keep them close.

"The more wins we get, the more people understand we’re for real," Thaddeus Young said. "That was one of the biggest things that was said before the game. People don’t know who we are right now. Let’s put our impact on this conference and let’s start with getting a really good win and that’s beating the Celtics.

"We felt like we should’ve won that game and we did. A lot of people ruled us out at the beginning of the season and said that we weren’t going to be able to beat them. We came out and we felt like we didn’t even play our best game."

The Indianapolis Star is part of the USA TODAY Network.